ICF CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

ICF CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT

What are the ICF certification requirements?

ICF (International Coach Federation) is the highest recognized body of coaching certification in the world. That doesn’t mean that getting certified from ICF is as difficult as some rocket science. These days, individuals and corporate showing their high rate of interest in adopting the ICF coaching culture keep growing constantly at a higher pace in the market today. In this article we are sharing the most important points to remember to achieve ICF credentials.

There are three levels in ICF, ACC (Associate Certified Coach), PCC (Professional Certified Coach) and MCC (Master Certified Coach) and Associate level is considered as first level of ICF, if you want to take your coaching skills to next level then you may need to choose to undergo Professional level (PCC). Master level (MCC) of ICF is the highest level of ICF gold standard of coaching. People generally assume that firstly, they have to complete ACC level to get to PCC or MCC level. There is no sequence set by ICF; you can directly choose to undergo PCC or MCC level as well. Below are three basic requirements of ICF:-

  • Coach Training
  • Mentoring
  • Coaching Experience

Above requirements vary upon different levels of ICF. Let’s understand these requirements in detail as per the levels.

ACC (Associate Certified Coach) :-

  • 60 hours of coaching training – You need to undergo for 60 hours of coaching training by attending classroom training or online training or both.
  • 10 hours of mentoring – As per ICF, 10 hours of mentoring should be spread in the length of 3 months and covered as 7 hours as group mentoring and 3 mentoring.
  • 100 hours of coaching experience – You need to acquire 100 hours of coaching experience, 75% of these hours should be paid coaching experience hours.

PCC (Professional Certified Coach) :-

  • 125 hours of coaching training – You need to undergo for 60 hours of coaching training by attending classroom training or online training or both.
  • 10 hours of mentoring – As per ICF, 10 hours of mentoring should be spread in the length of 3 months and covered as 7 hours as group mentoring and 3 mentoring.
  • 500 hours of coaching experience – You need to acquire 100 hours of coaching experience, 75% of these hours should be paid coaching experience hours.

MCC (Master Certified Coach) :-

  • 200 hours of coaching training – You need to undergo for 60 hours of coaching training by attending classroom training or online training or both.
  • 10 hours of mentoring – As per ICF, 10 hours of mentoring should be spread in the length of 3 months and covered as 7 hours as group mentoring and 3 mentoring.
  • 2500 hours of coaching experience – You need to acquire 100 hours of coaching experience, 75% of these hours should be paid coaching experience hours.

Here is a table to understand and compare the difference between required hours:-

 

Coaching Training

ACC PCC MCC
60 hours 125 hours 200 hours
Mentoring 10 hours 10 hours 10 hours
Coaching Experience 100 hours 500 hours 2500 hours